


Spoiler: A Knight in Red

by NotSoHappyCamper89



Category: Batman - All Media Types, DC Animated Universe (Timmverse), DCU (Comics)
Genre: I'm Bad At Summaries, I'm Bad At Tagging, Not Canon Compliant
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-27
Updated: 2020-06-27
Packaged: 2021-03-04 06:28:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,254
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24939061
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NotSoHappyCamper89/pseuds/NotSoHappyCamper89
Summary: Stephanie Brown is a complicated kid whose just trying to keep her head above water. Having watched her mom climb back from her addiction and put their lives back on track, she struggles to do the same. But in Gotham, trouble's never hard to find, even when you're not looking. The story follows the fifthteen year old Spoiler as she navigates herself as well as Gotham nights. In a world where Tim never became Robin, and Bruce struggles with the death of his son, Steph makes herself a grey hero in a city where nothing is ever black and white.
Comments: 2
Kudos: 5





	Spoiler: A Knight in Red

“So how does this work? Do you ask the questions or do I just start talking? I mean, I got no idea where I’d start, but uh, there’s a hell of a smorgasboard to choose from. My childhood, the incident at work, that’s a good three, four hours right there. Um, I also have a tiny fear of spiders if that’s the kinda thing you want, but can’t say I’m too worried about that. There’s also my budding future as a third degree felon, but if you ask me it was really more the customers fault. I mean, what did he think was gonna happen when he decides to just park right on the-””  
“Stephanie,” Dr. Hazel started, “Do you want to take a second?” She stopped short of her ramblings and looked to the doctor. Then nervously looked over the books and clutter assembled on the desk in her office. It was neat, orderly. Everything had its place. The teen stood.  
“Yeah I just, uh, I’m gonna grab a drink of water, can I have some water?”  
“Yes, there’s-”  
“There’s a water cooler in the hallway right?”  
“Um, yeah, right when you first walk in on the-”  
“Great thanks.”  
As the door closed behind her, Stephanie Brown felt like an idiot. Had she said something wrong? Weren’t therapists supposed to listen, wasn’t that their job? Course the good doctor really hadn’t done anything, and this wasn’t really about the therapist. Filling her foam cup with water, she took a seat on the floor next to the cooler. If this didn’t go well, this would be her fourth therapist in two months. Her mom already thought she was getting high with the neighbors, what the hell was she going to do about this? What could she do about it? She was trying, putting in the effort, coming home smiling, even talking with her mom’s new catch with the cheap cologne. So why did she still feel like a massive fuck up? Why couldn’t she just open up without it getting so...well…  
“Stephanie,” The doctor poked her head out the door, “feeling better?”  
She looked up at the smile on her face. The doctor was a petite, blonde woman in a pink cat sweater, somewhere in her mid thirties. Her mom had met her at the hospital, talking to a boy about her age who had just lost his parents in an accident. Said she could be a “good fit.” The thought almost made her cringe. Based on her immaculate room, tight lipped smile, and articulate composure, she’d say Dr. Hazel had fought hard to keep what she didn’t like about herself in check. No hair out of place, even her shoes matched her ridiculous sweater. Bubblegum pink heels with a bow on top. “A good fit,” she had said. She wondered what the doctor saw when she looked at her.  
“Yeah, just thinking.”  
“Well, could you do me a favor?”  
“Uh, yeah, sure, I guess.”  
“It’s okay to take a breath. I get it, opening up is hard.” She walked over to the cooler and sat next to it, letting the machine put a boundary between them. “But please don’t talk, or think, yourself out of this just yet. Your mom’s told me alot about you Miss Brown, and, well I like to think that I could really help you.” Help was a word she’d heard a lot lately, but she wasn’t so sure she’d actually seen it yet. Least, not from a doctor like her. They’d all seem to have heard stories about her. Beaten by one of her mom’s bad boyfriends at age seven. Broke a classmate's arm at age ten. Watched her mom almost overdose at age...well, she supposed that was almost three years ago. It seemed so far away, so why did she have to sit her with her now? “The only thing you need to tell me is exactly what you want to, and everything that you do-”  
“Is confidential, I know.” She let the water cooler fill the silence, bubbling and thumping occasionally. It was so much nicer in the reception room. The desks were cluttered and abandoned, the fan needed a bit of dusting, and the magazines to be straightened. It was so much easier to see what was wrong with all of it. An honest mess.   
“Then maybe today we don’t do a deep cutting exposé. Let's just start with establishing some goals first.”  
“Well, my mom wants me to stop assaulting shoplifters and petty assholes who park in the street.”  
“A...good start, sure, but I was thinking something more along the lines of where you want to be. You don’t have to tell me how it happened or what did, but, can you maybe try to tell me about how you're feeling and maybe we can figure out how you want to feel?”  
“What? Like I’m depressed or something?”  
“No, maybe, but this isn’t the first time you lashed out, right? Now you don’t have to-”  
“No.” The doctor seemed to wait for an elaboration but she just downed the water in the foam cup, before picking at its rim. Plucking a piece off, and dropping it into the cup.  
“So, let’s just start by talking about that then. Come on, why don’t we head back into my office?” As she stood, extending her hand, Steph studied her again. Determination in her posture, hope in her face, a smile so plastered on, it could’ve been plastic. How much was she getting paid? Or better yet, did she have something riding on this? As if reading her mind, Hazel responded, “I know what it’s like Ms. Brown, to scream so loud and have no one listen. It’s why I do this. It's why I want to help you, because, I mean before this, there wasn’t really anyone there to help me.”  
“Why?” Hazel stared at her confused.  
“Like I said, I think I know what you’re going through. I just want to be there for you.”  
“No, why wouldn’t anyone help you?”

On the other side of Gotham, Alfred made his way down the quiet halls of Wayne Manor. Passing portraits and pictures of Thomas, Martha, Bruce, and Dick, but it was the last on the left that made him stop. Compared to the other choreographed paintings, to many it seemed rather unspectacular. But Alfred could remember the day it was taken as if it was Bruce's birthday. August twelfth, two thousand nine. Two weeks after he had brought Jason home. The two were working on a car in the garage, and Bruce was showing him how to fix the carburetor. It’d been so long since he’d seen him smile like that. It was his favorite picture in the entire estate.  
After taking his moment, he passed it. Walking over to the ornate grandfather clock in the living room. After setting it to the correct time, the hidden door slid open, inviting him into it’s secret compartment. From the top of the steps he could see where Bruce was held up for the night. Stationed in front of the computer, he was reading over the clown’s file, making it the fourth time this month he’d found him like this.  
“He’s dead, Bruce.” There was no reaction, no jump, he didn’t even turn to look at his butler. Instead his eyes were locked on the clown. “It’s been three years, he’ll never take anyone else again.”  
“I know.”  
“Sometimes, I don’t think you do.”

**Author's Note:**

> So not that I don't like Tim or anything, but conceptually, Stephanie is a really interesting character. Her dad is a villain, the way she fought crime, generally I think she's kinda underrated. Granted I changed a lot for this story, but I hope this can stay true to her core character.


End file.
